ORCA Success Stories: ECOSS and Villa Comunitaria Work Together for Community Transportation Access

June 22, 2023 / / No Comments

ECOSS partnered with Villa Comunitaria to distribute pre-loaded ORCA cards to communities as part of a research study with King County Metro, and to spread awareness about the ORCA LIFT program to bridge the barriers that many communities face when trying to sign up. ORCA LIFT is a program that helps qualifying low-income individuals have access to reduced transit fares and an ORCA card, which can be used to travel on Sound Transit, Community Transit, Everett Transit, King County Metro buses, Kitsap Transit, Pierce Transit, Seattle Streetcar, Seattle Monorail, the King County Water Taxi, and Washington State Ferries. 

Villa Comunitaria is a local organization based in South Park that empowers families in innovative ways that are culturally relevant by creating a welcoming environment and providing programming that helps Latino communities navigate housing, immigration, health, education, and the legal system. We chatted with Shandiny Gualip Contreras, System Navigation Coordinator from Villa Comunitaria, to explore their experience collaborating on this ORCA card distribution/ORCA LIFT referral project, as well as the challenges, successes, and the impact on the communities Villa Comunitaria serves. 

“I have felt supported by ECOSS during this work project; both through the outreach opportunities as well as the check-ins and questions with the project leads.” Shandiny shared. A big challenge that Villa Comunitaria experienced last winter was a slowdown in outreach opportunities during the holiday season and noticed that hosting tabling events together with ECOSS was a great opportunity to engage the community beyond in-office appointments. “When we tabled together, we had a greater opportunity for people to learn about the organizations and in extension – our other programs. Our teams strategized to engage in ORCA Adult Cards and LIFT Referrals respectively, which helped us engage with our visitors effectively.” Together, ECOSS and Villa Comunitaria distributed 59 (and counting) pre-loaded ORCA cards ranging in value from $25-$99. 

 “We welcome resources and programs like this one,that can provide our community direct assistance. Within this distribution, the participants were able to receive cards with some funds included, which alleviates an urgent need. This tangible support can also be encouraging for community members to learn how to use an ORCA card, try out the transit services available, and practice a new tool without using personal funds. I think this overall aligns with how we aim to service our community – providing tools and resources that implement beneficial practices! ”  

Shandiny Gualip Contreras, Villa Comunitaria

Shandiny shared that the greatest impacts of this program were the direct temporary financial relief for community members who rely on public transportation. “We saw this impact in the higher volume of participants for ORCA Adult cards which were on hand and more accessible in terms of (absent) prerequisites. For the ORCA LIFT Referral program, our community members received support from Miguel Urquiza, our point of contact from King County Public Health, who received referral applications, provided follow-up communication, and assisted with registration.” A challenge for ORCA LIFT referrals was the registration process, due to the application process requiring personal information and/or state-related program qualifications which caused sign up rates to be lower.  

In terms of ORCA improving environmental justice efforts and connecting the community, Shandiny suggested providing education on Non-public Charge and Public Charge and its relevance for ORCA LIFT. “This reissued rule has greatly impacted our communities’ comfort in accepting state or local program assistance. Oftentimes our undocumented community members are barred from state and city programs – and there is still distrust or discomfort when faced with an application that may include a Social Security Number as a listed question.” Public Health Staff enroll many people new to the country on the program every day, and Immigration status is not a factor in LIFT eligibility, since LIFT is not subject to the Public Charge rule. Many of these discomforts and concerns that community members have around the application process could be addressed and clarified at the first point of contact in the future, for example, that LIFT eligibility does not require a SSN. 

Villa Comunitaria’s Bilingual Resource Specialist, Alex Segura, noticed during our appointment-based outreach that folks who initially requested the ORCA LIFT program survey would later decline or feel discomfort. “Those community members who declined the LIFT program would oftentimes opt for the regular Adult ORCA cards.” For those who did submit LIFT referral forms Public Health staff member Miguel Urquiza would verify their eligibility and issue the card.  For the referrals where information was not complete multiple follow-up attempts were made to reach the client to enroll them in ORCA LIFT.

“For the folks that have recently migrated to the US, options to refill their ORCA cards are quite limited. Many do not have bank accounts set up and would only be able to refill using cash which could also hinder how effective having an ORCA card is to them.” Throughout this project, Villa Comunitaria took observations, trends and insight alike to the Reflection Sessions hosted by King County Metro. 

“Partnering with ECOSS and Villa Comunitaria has been a great learning opportunity for Metro. It’s critical that we hear directly from riders about the challenges they face in accessing public transit,” said Tim Hams, co-lead for the King County Metro project. “To hear that some undocumented community members may be apprehensive about applying for ORCA LIFT or related programming because they fear retaliation, is critical information and helps us to design better transit experiences.” 

Tim Hams, King County Metro

Looking ahead to future collaborations, Shandiny shared that engaging with young adults and youth education to uplift the South Park community is something to aim for. “Most of Villa Comunitaria’s programs serve adults, and direct education for young folks is limited to our Early Learning Co-op and Kaleidoscope programs at the moment. I can see the potential impact of ECOSS’s youth programs and environmental opportunities can uplift the South Park community both long-term and holistically via multi-generational engagement as Villa Comunitaria continues to service our parent and adult communities, and grow programmatically.” These partnerships have helped introduce more community members to the ORCA and LIFT programs and improved ORCA distribution efforts. 

  

To learn more about Villa Comunitaria, visit their website: www.villacomunitaria.org   

The ORCA distribution program and ORCA LIFT referral program are made possible through our partnership with King County Metro.  

Read more about this program on Metro’s blog.

New program for youth centers the health of communities and the Duwamish River 

January 26, 2023 / / No Comments

Many immigrant and indigenous communities in Seattle have fishing traditions, histories, and connections to the Duwamish River. The river is home to lots of marine life, but unfortunately is also heavily polluted, an EPA superfund site, making the fish unhealthy for human consumption. Salmon are the only fish that are safe to catch and eat from the Duwamish since they are migratory and do not solely reside in the river. Other species such as shellfish however, should not be consumed since they process large volumes of polluted water through their gills each day and can accumulate levels of bacteria that are dangerous for humans. In 2019, ECOSS partnered with the EPA and King County Public Health’s Community Health Advocacy teams to support communities and empower them with knowledge about the Duwamish to promote safe fishing practices. 

In 2023, ECOSS is revisiting this project through a new partnership with Public Health – Seattle & King County, this time focusing on a program for youth who live near the river. This after-school youth program will consist of educational as well as immersive experiences centering the health of our waterways and communities. Cindy Anh Thu Nguyen, ECOSS Program Manager, shared more about her vision for the project with us.  

I am excited about developing the curriculum for this program, because ECOSS has never really had a youth program like this before, and, in a way, I get to start from scratch and build something really unique and specific to this community. I also just came out of grad school and am looking forward to this opportunity to apply my own skills in environmental education, and practicing culturally sustaining pedagogy and sustaining cultural fishing practices within the community.  

 – Cindy Anh Thu Nguyen, ECOSS Program Manager 
The ECOSS team at the Issaquah Salmon Hatchery

The program will center the idea of forming connections to the land where the youth live and place-based learning. Field trips to immersive learning spaces like the Wing Luke Museum, as well as fishing trips, and other activities, will create opportunities for the youth to explore places they may have not been before. There is an emphasis on shared learning outside of the classroom, conversations with peers, and thinking about how they could play a part in promoting environmental change in their communities.  

Environmental Justice education is not currently the most accessible to marginalized youth and a program like this is really oriented to being open for, particularly, the youth who are living in these communities and living near the river. It not only provides an opportunity for them to earn a stipend and get community organizing experience, but it’s also a program that is about developing their leadership skills through the approach of helping them understand their connections to the river and the place in which they live on a deeper level. It’s very much about maintaining the sustainability and health of the Duwamish River, but also the well-being of their communities. 
In the end, the target audience for this project are people who are already fishing and pregnant mothers or youth who would be the most impacted in health if they were consuming contaminated seafood. I think youth involvement in this is really important because they’re really influential in their family and could educate their parents or their other family members. Oftentimes, they’re the ones that are sharing this information with their family first, so we, at ECOSS, are hoping to be the providers of that education.  

 – Cindy Anh Thu Nguyen, ECOSS Program Manager
View of the Duwamish River from Duwamish River People’s Park and Shoreline Habitat with Mt. Tahoma in the distance. Photo by Meagan Dwyer

We want to hear from youth about how we can develop a program that is relevant and empowering. ECOSS will be holding two focus groups on February 15 and February 21 at the Duwamish River Community Hub (8600 14th Ave S, Seattle, WA 98108) For more information and to view eligibility, visit this link.

Read about ECOSS’ 2019 safe fishing program

This program was featured in the International Examiner! Read more here.